1. Field of the Invention
The invention, according to the various embodiments described herein, relates to a method and a system for time synchronization in an ad-hoc network.
2. Discussion of the Background
In mobile networks without an infrastructure—so-called ad-hoc networks—the management, monitoring and control of data traffic are processed directly between the individual network participants—the so-called nodes or network nodes.
In this context, one essential function is the time synchronization between all of the nodes in an ad-hoc network. An identical time basis for all of the nodes in the ad-hoc network is an absolute prerequisite for accurate time synchronization of all nodes in the ad-hoc network with the synchronization bit pattern transmitted in a given time window for synchronization with the correct phase and frequency of the transmission signal, for example, within a given time segment of a frequency-hop method used in an ad-hoc network.
A time synchronization in an ad-hoc network is known. In this context, clusters of respectively regionally adjacent nodes are initially formed. An intra-cluster time synchronization is implemented in each individual cluster formed in this manner in that, according to a fixed sequence, individual nodes of the cluster transmit a message for time synchronization with the transmission time of the message at the local time of the transmitting node, by means of which the other nodes of the cluster synchronize their local time with the local time of the transmitting node. The disadvantage with the time synchronization is, on the one hand, the time delay in the implementation of the time synchronization, which results from the time required to form the cluster, and, on the other hand, the cost for implementing the time synchronization, which includes a specification of the sequence for transmitting messages for the time synchronization.